Richard s



v(No Model.)

R. s. GILLESPIE. AIR-LOCK FOR GISSONS, &C.

Patented Dec. 29, 1896.

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A f UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARDS. GILLESPIE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

AIR-LOCK FOR CAISSONS, 80C.

SPECIFICATION forming part of ,Letters Patent No. 574,321, datedDecember 29, 1896.

Application filed July 2 7, 18 9 6.

v York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have inventednew and useful Improvements in Air-Locks for Caissons, dto.,

of which the following` is a specication.

This invention has for its object to provide new and improved means foropening and closing the outer or upper ends of air-locks which aremounted on caissons designed for constructing subaqueous and otherfoundations or of apparatus employed for tunneling purposes.

The invention also has for its object to provide a novel constructionwhereby the stuffing-boxes of the bucket-hoisting cables are seatedair-tight in operative connection with the top doors of the upperair-lock when they are closed.

To accomplish these objects, the invention consists, essentially, in thecombination, with an air-lock casing, of sliding doors having inclinedor sloping semicircular recesses in their edges,a stufIing-box having aconoidal-shaped or tapering portion adapted to seat in said recesseswhen the doors are closed,and a buckethoisting cable extending throughthe stu flingbox.

The invention is illustrated by the acco1npanying drawings, in which-Figure l is a central vertical sectional view of an air-lock embodyingmy invention. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same; and Fig. 3 is adetail sectional view on a reduced scale, showing a modification of theinvention.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to make and use myinvention, I will now describe the same in detail, referring to thedrawings, wherein The numeral l indicates the casing of an air-lock,which is preferably in the form of a cylinder, but which may be of anyform or shape in cross-section suitable for the purpose in hand. Thecasing is provided with a chambered base portion 2, adapted to beconnected with the outer or upper end of the caisson or an apparatusdesigned for tunneling purposes. The lower end of the airlock casing isprovided with opening and closing doors or valves 3, which, as hereshown, are mounted on rock-shafts il, adapted to be op- Serial No.600,695. (No model.)

erated in any suitable manner, so that the doors can be opened andclosed whenever required. As regards the lower doors or valves 3, I wishit understood that they may be of any desired construction and bearranged and closed through the medium of any suitable devices ormechanism, and that instead of two lower doors or valves 3 a single onemay be employed.

The upper end of the air-lock casing is provided with paralleloverhangin g guide-flanges 5 to receive the ends of twohorizontally-slid ing doors 6, by which the outer or upper end of theairlock is adapted to be closed airtight. The ends of the doors 6 lieunder the overhang-ing guide-fianges 5 and are susceptible of slidingback and forth, so that they can be made to open .or close the air-lock.The sliding doors may be operated through the medium of any mechanismordinarily ernployed for opening and closing the top doors of anair-lock', and, inasmuch as my present invention is not confined to anyparticular devices for operatin g the doors, I do not deem it necessaryto illustrate the door-operatin g devices or mechanism in the drawings.

The inner edges 7 of the sliding doors (3, which lie contiguous when thedoors are closed, are each provided with two semicircular recesses S,which incline or slope in such manner that they will t directly againstthe conoidal-shaped or tapering bodies 9 of stuffing-boxes lO. Thesestuffing-boxes are constructed interiorly in any suitable manner toclosely hug and fit the two bucket-hoisting cables 12, which cables aresusceptible of moving through the stuffing-boxes and are connected attheir lower ends in any suitable manner with the bucket 13 of theair-lock.

The incline or sloping construction of the edges of the semicircularrecesses 8 and the tapering form of the bodies 9 of the stuffingboXesare such that when the doors 6 are closed against the stuffing-boxes theinternal air-pressure in the air-lock, which tends to force thestuffing-boxes upwardly, will hold these stufling boxes tightly in theseats formed by the semicircular recesses, so that the upper end of theair-lock will bev closed air-tight when the sliding doors are slid intoengagement with the stuffing-boxes.

I prefer to employ two stuffing-boxes and IOO two bucket-hoistingcables, because this construction enables the cables to be secureddirectly to the bucket, and thereby avoids the use of the ordinarybucket-bail, which occupies considerable space and renders it necessaryto proportionately increase the height of the air-lock casing. The twocables connected directly to the bucket render it possible to materiallyreduce the height of the airlock casing and also prevent tipping ortilting of the bucket. I do not, however, limit myself to the employmentof two stuifing-boxes and two bucket-hoisting cables, as a single cableand a single stuffingbox may be employed, as shown in the modificationFig. 3, in which event it is desirable to employa bail 14 on the upperend of the bucket 15. The single stuffing-box 16, Fig. 3, is constructedin all essential respects the same as the stutng-boxes described withreference to Figs. 1 and 2, and likewise the sliding doors areconstructed and adapt-ed to be operated in the same manneras the doors6, (illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2,) the only difference being that in themodification the sliding doors are each provided with a single inclinedor sloping semicircular recess 17 so that when the two doors are slid totheir closed position the stufing-box will be seated in the semicircularrecesses at the center of the apparatus.

I do not wish to be understood as confining myself to sliding the doors6 to their opened and closed positions.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- The combinationwith an air-lock casing, of the top sliding doors having inclined orsloping semicircnlar recesses in their inner ed ges,a stuffing-boxhaving a conoidal-shaped or tapering portion adapted to seat in saidrecesses when the doors are closed, and a bucket-hoisting cableextending through the stufng-box, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

RICHARD GILLESPIE.

Witnesses:

ALBERT H. NoRRIs, Trios. A. GREEN.

